Wow! I've just realised ALL my kids are academically gifted!

[DadAtLarge]

I've made numerous posts over the years about DS and his aptitude for maths ...starting with my original post as a confused parent requesting assistance because he was bored in school ...and continuing to my more informed posts in the last couple of years speaking as a (now) governor and authority on the G&T programme.

We were delighted with the school's (eventual) response in getting him a secondary teacher once a week for a maths lesson (from the end of Y2) ...and all the other effort they put in to cater for him. The school couldn't have done more. But we decided that best efforts ain't good enough.

Earlier this year we took all three children out of school permanently. There are various terms for it - home schooling, home education, dossing about....

I feel that what we do is more dossing about than anything else. :)

And voila! I find that my other two are gifted as well! The only reason I can think of that this didn't show earlier is because the first one spent more individual time with DW and me while the others had to share our time. Since taking the HE decision we've been able to spend more quality time with #2 and #3 ... and we discover they're just as or even more gifted than #1.

Yikes! I'm kicking myself now that we ever sent them to school.

A common theme in my posts over the last year has been that schools fail all gifted children. My apologies. They don't just fail them. Schools fail them in a monumental way. I know, I know, not all of you subscribe to that view and you believe that a single teacher catering for 30 kids of widely differing abilities, different social backgrounds, different needs, different level of parental support etc., can do justice to your DC. Good luck to you if you do. But ...

If you have the option to HE I urge you to investigate it. It's not as difficult as you may think, you don't need to be an expert in any subject, you don't need to have any teaching experience. From what I've seen of HE children, they are better behaved, more social (yes!) and friendly and they achieve GCSE results on par with or better than their school counterparts. If you're the type who loves having the kids around - rather than the type who can't wait for summer holidays to end - you'll walk around with a big grin on your face all day long.

I do. :)

what if the system works for other extremely gifted children

Let him be, he's not trying to Pied Piper your children away.
Nice to see a bit of enthusiasm for learning outside the box.
Although if you have a soapbox and megaphone in my High st of a Saturday, I'd let my DS loose with a super soaker.

Haven't read as much self-satisfied bollocks for ages on Mumsnet.

Thanks, DadAtLarge, for such a hilarious thread. Cracking.

POG my friend who is a committed HEer but not evangelical (she believes each parent has the duty to educate their child as they see fit and if they use school as one resource then that is fine and dandy) would freely admit that though basic english and maths was easy peasy, as was teaching them French etc...other things were a challenge.

Sport was tough. In order for Dc to play the range they do in school, they would need to join a hell of a lot of clubs. Which would also eat into their treasured flexibility.

Music too. It's hard to find orchestras, choirs, ensembles, bands etc that take kids of all ages and abilities. And again it eats into the precious flexibility.

Her view is that you have to compromise. An dif you go about saying it's absolutely perfect you are either a liar, a twat, or in the first flush of HE

oooo its one of those threads..
" she's just picked up reading - like magic - and could read fluently before she started school. "
(shouts excitedly) So can mine, so can mine so can mine so can mine, ....is mine magic too ? wow.
And there was me thinking she was actually pretty normal and over the next 10 years of education all sorts of things might change and state education is a mighty fine choice for her.
but anyhow where do i get my "my kids are clever than all you little people badge please " are you planning on making them in a fun home schooling session DatAtLarge ?

Your friend is wise.
French maybe, but my DD has a talent for Japanese.

He's probably feeling guilty about not discovering his gifted younger children until recently, and with a ratio of 2 adults to 3 children! I bet you blamed the failing school system for that as well...

If only Noddy...

you can't judge your children as academically gifted until they start to develop new theories (maths / science), create a piece with integrity and passion (creative arts) etc etc

your academically gifted children should be socially gifted as well

academically bright children you judge when they're doing their GCSEs / A'levels / intl Bacc

'your academically gifted children should be socially gifted as well'

Sometimes that just isn't possible, and you have to teach the social skills. The two are often not compatible, however desirable.

get a life

Thanks Wordfactory.

Yes I can imagine that would be missed. Casting my mind back I remember many debates in European literature and when maths became more abstract in the last two years. Then I wonder if the classroom and a proof in a text book is a benefit.

I can imagine a gifted child flying ahead in the early years. But then school can get really good when you're around others who are passionate about studying in the later years. Or maybe it was for the highly academic ie but not actually gifted ones.

As an aside, what about the social aspect? Learning to mix with others, interaction, dealing with being in groups, asserting yourself etc? How can that be learnt in a 'enclosed' environment? Seriously, how?

professionallyoffendedgoblin exactly what I mean

revelling in one trick that your kids do with little effort is pointless - when they work hard to accomplish something is when the praise happens

nah, dal's not a troll. been around for donkey's.

dc3 picked up reading 'like magic' here too at 2/3 ish. it's just having older brothers and sisters around i think. and lots of books. and not being able to walk.

an

stipeybump "I don't take no for an answer if students don't want to perform"

LOL, there is no way I could get DS1 to perform anything. My DS needs teachers like you.

I investigated HE. We tried it for a term. My DS who had school refused then chose to go to a new school. Yes I love having them at home for the summer, yes I love learning new things with my DC, but I am also grateful for that they do lots of exciting things without me for 6 hours a day.

I have a 15 year old with an IQ of 150+. We have been told that he is not gifted but in the genius category. Now this sounds great right? Well let me tell you how its not so great.

He does not fit in and does anything to be accepted and the "same" as his peers. Some adults have felt odd around him and they not shy to tell him that so he chooses to act like a "dumb blonde". He (to often) finds school boring and does the bare minimum to get by. He feels nobody understands him and this shows in his lacklustre attitude to life despite having a brilliant mind.

My FIL has the same mind and lives the life of a recluse as he cannot deal with people at all and seems to think they are all beneath him and not worthy of his time. He literally lives with his snakes and a monkey and refuses to see anyone as he is incapable of conversing with "normal" people. He is a very ill man for such a brilliant mind (we have not seen him in 14 years). I am sure you can see why I fear for my son the way I do.

Just having a brilliant mind with the capability of greatness is not enough. Sometimes, it can be a curse rather than a blessing. Saying that HE is the answer (which I would love to do) is just not always the case. There is no way I would be able to stimulate him enough. I am not a stupid woman but am by no means on that level.

So forgive me if you preaching about bright children and HE makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. You may be the perfect parent but some of us are just dong the best we can with what we have.

mini rant over

marsha I think that is a fair point. My friend's DS wanted to not only learn but to share ideas with his peers, trying them on for size and debating them.

However for the truly gifted school peers, even at A level standard might not be appropriate.

My other friend with a gifted DS has him in one of the most selective schools in the country and they arrange for him to have day release to University where he can do his work with others on par.

It's a horrible thing we do to put them in a stifling environment with "professionals" who are trained in crowd control but who, in their entire life, have never read a single book on the teaching of gifted children

That's not true of many teachers. I had several at my state secondary school who were fabulous with high aptitude children and were prepared to give up free time to provide extra teaching, club activities and all sorts. We had arts and theatre trips, cultural activities, chess, fencing, study groups, extra work and courses of minority interest (e.g. Latin and Greek), you name it all put on by teachers who got nothing for it other than the satisfaction of seeing us flourish.

It is hard if your child is gifted, whichj is why in my first post on this thread I said
'Good luck OP, my DD is G&T and it is a challenge with some unexpected pitfalls. May your children stay balanced and this side of sane.'
Because sometimes the line is a very thin one.

Just because somebody's not a troll doesn't mean that they are not a dork.

Brilliant Prof - that is exactly it. Sometimes the line between genius and insanity is very fine imho.

Wise words, seeker.